


Matching Tuxes

by Larry_Klaine_Stylinson



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Prom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-16
Updated: 2013-05-16
Packaged: 2017-12-12 01:04:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/805354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Larry_Klaine_Stylinson/pseuds/Larry_Klaine_Stylinson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry has liked Louis for practically as long as they've been friends, and he wants to ask Louis to be his date to prom. However, things keep getting in the way. Louis asks him to go as friends, and he agrees, because it's better than sitting at home alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Matching Tuxes

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written as a prompt fill on Tumblr.

Harry and Louis had been best friends since the first day they met on Harry's second day at Louis' school. Louis had come over and sat next to him at the lunch table and punched him lightly in the arm and said "A ham sandwich? Really?" and then given him some of the leftover pizza he'd brought for his own lunch.

After that, the two were practically inseparable.

For the next two years they spent every possible moment together. They did homework together after school, they played football together on weekends, even though Harry was admittedly shit at it. They watched films together and talked about books they'd read. They even had sleepovers on occasion, and those were secretly Harry's favorite, because he was a naturally cuddly person, and so was Louis. So when they shared a bed, no matter whether they made a conscious decision to do so or not, they always ended up tangled together by the morning.

The reason Harry liked the sleepovers so much was because cuddling with Louis was undeniably his favorite thing on the whole planet. Doing anything with Louis was amazing, but cuddling was his favorite. He'd had a bit of a crush on Louis for ages now. Since a couple weeks after he'd met him, really. And, if he was being honest, a bit of a crush was an understatement. It was a huge crush. A really really huge crush, and sometimes he had trouble keeping his feelings contained.

Sometimes when he and Louis were sitting on the couch and watching a film, Louis would have his head resting on Harry's shoulder, because it was the perfect height, and Harry would have to bite his lip and squeeze his eyes shut just to stop himself from leaning down and kissing Louis right on the mouth.

Harry had never been one to be extremely open about his romantic feelings for people. He was shy and often opted to keep that sort of thing to himself. Especially when it came to Louis. Because Louis was his best friend, and after meeting Louis, he hadn't taken the time to make many other friends. He had a few acquaintances here and there, but no one that he spent a large amount of time with, because he was always busy with Louis.

So there was a large part of him that never wanted to tell Louis how he felt, because if he told him and things got awkward or Louis didn't return his feelings and decided to cut ties between them, Harry would have practically no one.

But prom was coming up in a little less than a month, and Harry was determined to ask Louis to be his date. He had to take a chance. Because Louis was everything he'd ever wanted, and he'd hate himself if he let this opportunity slip out of his grasp.

They were at school, and Harry had finally worked up the courage to ask Louis. He was just going to ask him. Just come right out and say it.

He walked over and met Louis at his locker, giving him a big smile.

"Harry!" Louis said brightly, beaming. He hadn't even turned to look at him from where he was grabbing his books out of his locker, he just knew it was Harry. "How's your day been, mate?"

"Good." Harry said, feeling the butterflies dive bombing his stomach. "Hey, listen-"

Harry was cut off by the bell ringing.

"I've gotta run, Haz. I've been late far too many times this month. Tell me later!" He called as he sprinted down the hall.

"Yeah, okay." Harry yelled back, heading off in the opposite direction to his own class.

000

By the time Harry saw Louis again, all of his courage had faded. They were walking back to Harry's after school, and Louis nudged his shoulder.

"What did you want to tell me?" He asked.

"Hmm?" Harry questioned.

"Earlier, when the bell rang."

"Oh." Harry said, nodding a bit. "Just...Had wanted to make sure you were coming over."

"Since when do you even have to ask? I always come over." Louis said. "Though, admittedly, it's mostly for your mum's snacks."

"Oh, shove off." Harry laughed. "You love me."

"Yeah, you're right." Louis smiled, linking arms with Harry.

Harry tried not to blush. Louis did things like this a lot. He was just a really affectionate person. It didn't mean anything. And that's what Harry had to continuously remind himself, otherwise he'd get far too carried away with the ideas running around in his head.

000

It wasn't until almost a week later that Harry had worked up enough courage to try to ask him again. It was Saturday, and they were sitting in Louis' living room, playing video games and eating crisps. Louis had just died, and he was screaming some curse words at the screen, and Harry was smiling, because even as such foul words fell from his lips, he was still the prettiest thing he'd ever seen.

"Hey, Lou?"

"Fucking christ. I swear I pressed the damn jump button. Luigi is a twat." Louis continued to rant.

"Louis?" Harry tried again, a little louder this time.

"Yeah, Haz?" Louis asked, turning to face him.

Just then, the front door opened, and in came Louis' mum and sisters. Harry's mouth had been open, forming around the words he needed to say to ask Louis to prom with him, but he shut his mouth quickly at the first sounds of Louis' family entering the house. He couldn't risk being rejected with them all home, and possibly in a near enough vicinity to hear his and Louis' conversation.

"Harry, what did you want?"

"Um, just." Harry stammered out. "Did you want a drink? I was gonna go grab one."

"Nah, I'm alright." Louis said, though he was giving Harry a rather skeptical look, like he didn't believe that was really all. And why should he? Harry wasn't the best liar.

Harry pushed himself up off the couch and went into the kitchen, grabbing a glass and filling it with the first liquid he pulled out of the fridge, which happened to be orange juice. He wasn't even really thirsty, but he had to get a drink or it'd be obvious he'd been lying.

He took his cup back out into the living room and sat down next to Louis on the sofa, picking up his controller and pressing play.

000

The next time Harry worked up enough courage to ask Louis to prom was on Wednesday. He'd brought a rose from his mum's garden and hidden it in his locker, and he was going to get down on one knee in the lunch room and ask Louis. And maybe he was setting himself up for embarrassment, but he didn't care. Prom was two weeks from Saturday, and he needed to do something drastic if he wanted to impress Louis.

The bell rang in class and he sprinted out of the room and down the halls to his locker. When he arrived, he quickly put in his combination and flung the locker door open. He grabbed out the rose, and to his dismay, it was wilted and half of the petals had fallen off.

He supposed he should have expected that. And he also supposed he should ask Louis anyway. But he'd planned something extravagant, and just plain asking him didn't feel like enough anymore.

He was worried that maybe all of these failed attempts were a sign that he wasn't meant to ask Louis to prom. Maybe he and Louis were just destined to be best friends for the rest of their lives. Harry supposed he could work with that, although it would tear him up inside. He'd just have to get used to it eventually.

He made his way to the cafeteria and found Louis at their usual table.

"You're late."

"By, like, three minutes." Harry said, sitting down across from him.

"Everything alright?"

"Louis, it was three minutes. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Louis asked, leaning forward and squinting at him.

"Yeah." Harry said, scratching the back of his neck nervously. "Why?"

"You just seem a bit off."

Harry shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant, "M'fine, Lou. Promise."

"Okay." Louis said, giving him one least skeptical look and then leaning back in his chair and taking a bite of his lunch.

The rest of the day went on as normal, and Harry decided to give up on the idea of asking Louis to prom. He just wouldn't go this year. It wasn't that big of a deal really.

Except that actually, it was.

000

Harry was walking over to Louis' with him after school on Friday, and Louis was walking really close, as he sometimes did, their hands brushing.

"Hey, Harry?"

"Hmm?" Harry asked, turning to get a better look at Louis' face.

"I was thinking, since we're both single, maybe we could go to prom together, yeah? As friends, of course."

Harry was beaming, but as the words 'as friends' fell from Louis' lips, his smile dropped just a bit. Still, he couldn't deny that going to prom with Louis, even just as friends, would be better than skipping altogether.

"Sounds great." Harry said, forcing an overly bright smile onto his face.

Louis let out a small happy sigh, and Harry was glad he'd said yes.

"Want to go to the shops tomorrow and rent some tuxes?"

"Yeah, sure." Harry nodded.

Louis linked their arms together and began skipping down the street to his house, laughing loudly, and Harry couldn't help but laugh along with him.

000

Louis drove them to the shops the next day and dragged Harry into the shop with all of the tuxedos and other fancy prom clothing. They wandered around, looking at various suits, and Louis was getting quite excited.

Harry was excited, too, of course. But he couldn't help but feel that he'd be more excited if they were shopping as a couple. Looking for suits that matched or complimented each other, because Louis was his date, and so he'd want to match.

Louis disappeared suddenly, and Harry just shook his head a bit, not really surprised at how excited Louis was about all of this. He'd always been rather excitable, and Harry supposed that tux shopping was one of those things that was easy to get excited about.

When he reappeared, he was holding a very sharp looking black suit with deep purple trim.

"Harry, this would look absolutely brilliant on you, and don't you tell me otherwise."

"I don't know how I feel about a purple trim, Lou." Harry said, looking skeptically at the suit.

"Try it on." Louis said. "Please? For me? I saw it from half way across the shop and it just screamed 'Harry'. You've got to at least let me have a look at you in it."

Harry couldn't exactly say no to that. He snatched the suit out of Louis' hands with a moody huff, and Louis got a very self-satisfied smirk on his face.

"I'll be back." Harry said, trudging into one of the changing rooms.

He put the suit on, and he had to admit that the purple trim did look rather nice with his skin tone, and it made the green of his eyes pop a bit. But it still felt mighty ridiculous, and he wasn't about to walk into his school prom wearing this.

He opened the dressing room doors and came out, "I'm not wearing this."

"But Harry." Louis whined. "You look fucking fantastic."

Harry had to hold back a blush, something he had to do often around Louis, because even though Louis was just his best mate, getting compliments like that from him meant the world to Harry.

"You think so?"

"I do." Louis nodded. "If you don't wear that to prom then I'm not taking you."

"Promise I don't look ridiculous?"

"I absolutely one hundred percent promise, Hazza. You look amazing."

"Alright, fine. I'll wear it."

"Good." Louis said. "Because I've got a matching one, except it's got blue trim, and I was going to feel silly wearing it if you didn't wear that one." Louis said, holding up the suit he held in his own hands.

Harry tried not to smile too wide at the fact that they were, in fact, going to have matching suits. He had to remind himself that this wasn't a date. They were simply two friends going to prom together and keeping each other company.

They paid for their suits, and then Louis talked Harry into going for a cup of tea before going back to his to play video games.

000

The two weeks leading up to prom passed by far too quickly for Harry's liking, and yet they also seemed to drag on and on.

The closer it got to prom night, the more nervous he became.

He was afraid he was going to seriously mess up and do something to show that he wished they were more than friends. He was afraid he'd being trying too hard not to do something like that, and end up making things awkward. He was afraid Louis would decide it was a dumb idea and suggest they leave. He was afraid of what would happen when slow songs played and they couldn't dance around like idiots. What would they do then? Probably talk, and then something would slip out and Harry would hate himself.

Basically, Harry had a lot of worries.

Harry was wearing his suit now, and he was fumbling a bit as he finished tying his bow tie. He then shook his hair out a bit, and swept his curls off to the side and out of his eyes. He looked at himself in the mirror, and he still felt a bit silly, but he and Louis were going to match, and Louis thought he looked amazing, so he decided not to let what he thought other people might think bother him, because in the end, Louis was the only one who really mattered.

The doorbell rang and he took a deep breath. As he made his way down the stairs, he saw that Louis was already inside, and he was chatting with Harry's mum.

As Harry made his way down the steps Anne cooed up at him. She'd known about his feelings for Louis for over a year now, but she'd always been cool about it, and she had promised that tonight would be no exception.

Apparently, she had lied.

"Oh, look how cute you two are in your matching suits." She said, smiling brightly. Harry smiled awkwardly at Louis, as if to apologize. "Get down here and let me take pictures."

"Mum." Harry warned.

"Just a few pictures and then I'll let you get going, Harry."

"Yeah, c'mon, Harold." Louis grinned. "Indulge your mum a bit. You're her baby boy, going off to prom."

Harry glared at Louis, "Alright. Just a few pictures, and then we're leaving."

Anne nodded quickly, and Harry reached the bottom of the steps, walking over to Louis and standing next to him awkwardly.

"You know, Harry, just because you aren't my date doesn't mean you can't touch me. You're my best mate. Get over here." Louis said, grabbing Harry by the arm and pulling him in close.

Harry and Louis both smiled at the camera, and then Anne asked them to make some funny faces as well, so they did. And at some point, Louis' arm ended up around Harry's waist, and Harry just assumed it was because he wasn't tall enough to get his arm around his shoulders. So Harry wrapped his arm around Louis' shoulders, and he was pretty sure these looked like couple pictures, which was fine with him, he supposed, but he wondered why it was fine with Louis. Did he really want to look back at his prom pictures in thirty years and have it looking like he and Harry were going as a couple when he obviously had no interest in that?

"Alright, mum. We've gotta go."

"Wait, one more!" Louis shouted. "Pick me up, Hazza!"

"What?" Harry asked.

Before he could get an answer to his question, Louis was flying into his arms, and he caught him, his mum snapping a picture of Louis cackling as Harry tried not to drop him.

"Lou, you idiot." Harry grumbled as Louis fell out of his arms and onto the ground with a soft thud.

But Louis was laughing, and Harry's mum was laughing, and soon, Harry was laughing, too.

"Let me see that one!" Louis laughed, scrambling up off the floor and over to Anne.

Harry followed him as his mum pulled the picture up on the display screen of the camera, and he and Louis both looked over her shoulder. It was a pretty nice picture. Louis was in Harry's arms, and Harry had an utterly shocked expression on his face, while Louis' face was a tad blurry with laughter. It was a good representation of their entire friendship.

"I love that." Louis said. "You'll have to print that out and give me a copy, Anne."

"Sure thing, love." Anne smiled. "You two get going now. You'll be late."

Harry nodded and practically bolted for the door, while Louis followed behind him, chuckling softly.

They got into Louis' car and headed off to the prom.

"Why were you so embarrassed back there, you goof?" Louis asked.

"Dunno." Harry shrugged. "Just...Mum's so weird."

"I love your mum."

"Yeah, well. You're weird, too."

Louis laughed for a minute before turning to face Harry a bit more while still keeping his eyes on the road, "Suppose you're right."

"I'm always right." Harry grinned.

"Don't get cocky now, love."

Harry's heart stuttered in his chest a bit at that. And it wasn't like Louis had never called him that before. He used pet names with everyone he cared about. But it was somehow different when they were sitting in a car together, on the way to prom, wearing watching tuxedos. It just...It made it feel more special. More meaningful.

They pulled into a space in the car park, and they both got out of the car. Louis linked arms with Harry, and that felt different, too. Walking through the doors of prom with Louis' arm linked with his...It just felt like it was meant to be this way.

But he knew that it didn't mean anything to Louis, and so it shouldn't mean anything to him either.

They walked into the room, and music was playing loudly while teenagers danced and shouted and bumped into each other. Couples were snogging in corners, and lonely people were standing against the wall alone. Harry was just glad he wasn't one of them, and that he wasn't sitting at home all alone eating a tub of ice cream while Louis brought some other date. At least he was here with Louis, even if it wasn't a date. Just being here with him was enough, if it was all he could get.

Louis untangled their arms and grabbed Harry's hand, dragging him out onto the dance floor. The music was loud and upbeat, and Harry danced around, moving his feet to the beat. He knew he looked like an idiot, but so did Louis, and they were having fun, so it didn't matter.

Louis grabbed Harry's hands, swinging them back and forth as they danced around in circles together, laughing and smiling at each other.

This went on for nearly an hour, and then slower music began to play. They couldn't exactly dance around like idiots to this music. Not unless they wanted to be glared at. So they quickly removed themselves from the dance floor, heading over to the punch bowl where all of the single people had gathered.

Louis got them each a cup and filled it with the red liquid that filled the punch bowl. He handed Harry's cup to him, and he took a sip, looking awkwardly at all of the couples on the dance floor. He wished he and Louis could be out there dancing together. He wished he could hold Louis close, while Louis pressed his head to Harry's chest. He wished he could rest his hands at the base of Louis' spine and breathe in the scent of his hair as they swayed to the music.

"Are you alright, Harry?" Louis asked, breaking Harry out of his trance.

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "Yeah, just thinking."

"Watcha thinkin' about?" Louis asked, sounding more like a little girl than a teenage boy.

"Nothing important."

"Okay. If you're sure."

"I'm sure."

They stayed there in silence, both sipping at their punch until a fast song came on and Louis snatched Harry's cup out of his hand, setting it down on the table along with his own and dragging Harry out onto the dance floor once more.

They jumped up and down and danced around, and Harry was certain he was a sweaty mess, but he didn't even care, because when the fast songs came on and he could just dance around with Louis and be free, watching all of the happy couples dancing together during the slow songs was worth it.

The fast song ended, and another slow one started up. Harry groaned loudly in annoyance and began to make his way off the dance floor, but Louis' soft grip around his wrist stopped him.

"Wait." He said softly, and Harry turned to face him. "Dance with me."

Harry gave him a confused look, but agreed nonetheless.

He figured Louis just didn't want Harry to feel left out. They were best friends, so it shouldn't be weird for them to slow dance together, and Louis was making sure that it wasn't. He was making sure that he and Harry didn't have to stand off on the sidelines and awkwardly drink punch while Harry stared wistfully at all of the couples. And sure, this would have been better if he and Louis were here together as a couple and not just as friends, but it was still nice, and it meant a lot to Harry that Louis cared enough to do this for him.

"Harry." Louis said, taking Harry by the waist and pulling him a bit closer. "I've got something to tell you, okay? Don't freak out on me."

Harry's heart began beating exceedingly fast in his chest, "Why would I freak out?"

Louis shrugged, "Just listen." He took a deep breath. "I didn't just invite you here because you're my best mate and neither of us had dates. I invited you because I wanted you to be my date, but I was afraid if I just went right out and asked you, you'd say no. So I asked you to come as friends, but this whole time I've just wanted to slow dance with you, Harry. I've wanted this. Because...Because I'm in love with you, Harry. I have been for ages, but I was afraid to tell you."

"You...What?" Harry asked, stunned.

"C'mon, Haz, don't make me say it again." Louis said pleadingly.

"You mean it, though?" Harry asked, looking into Louis' blue eyes that shone brightly under the lights twinkling above them in the darkened room.

"Of course I mean it."

Harry breathed out a sigh of relief and pulled Louis closer, pressing Louis' face to his own chest, and Louis relaxed against him. Harry wrapped his arms around Louis' waist, resting them on the small of his back, and Louis wrapped his arms right around Harry's middle, squeezing him tightly.

"Do you have any clue how many times I tried to invite you here as my date?" Harry asked softly. "The answer is a lot. But stuff kept getting in my way, and I'm a coward."

"No more cowardly than me. We've just spent the majority of our prom night here as friends even though we both obviously wanted it to be more than that, and all because I couldn't get the balls to ask you to be my date."

Harry chuckled, pressing a kiss to the top of Louis' head, "Well, at least we've both gotten our shit together now, yeah?"

"Yeah." Louis breathed out, nuzzling his face against Harry's chest.

Harry smiled, his thumbs making lazy circles over Louis' back, and Louis hummed happily as they swayed back and forth.

The song ended, and another slow one started, so they simply stayed like that, swaying to the slow tempo and holding each other close.

"How long have you known that you loved me?" Harry asked Louis softly.

"A few months, at least." Louis said. "It was sort of a gradual thing. It didn't just hit me all at once." He told him. "What about you?"

"I think...From a few days after I met you, I knew there was a chance that I could love you. But it wasn't until maybe a year or so ago that I knew that I did."

Harry could feel Louis smiling against his chest, "Suppose I've kept you waiting quite a while then, haven't I?" Louis asked with a chuckle.

"That you have." Harry agreed. "But it's just as much my fault. I could've told you how I felt about you ages ago."

"Why didn't you?" Louis asked, lifting his head from Harry's chest and looking up at him.

Harry looked down into Louis' eyes as he answered, "Because...You're my best mate. I was afraid of what might happen if I told you how I really felt. I didn't want you to shy away from me, or decide that we couldn't be friends anymore."

"Do you really think I'm the kind of person that would do that?" Louis asked sternly.

"No." Harry shook his head thoughtfully. "But you know how worried I get about things like that. I just...I wanted to wait for the right time, if I was going to tell you at all."

"Well, waiting for me to tell you first was certainly a safe bet for the right time." Louis chuckled.

"Shut it." Harry laughed.

"Make me." Louis said, looking directly in Harry's eyes.

And it was such a cliche, really, and Harry wanted to laugh. But the fact that that had obviously been an invitation for him to kiss Louis was too good of an opportunity to pass up. So he leaned down slowly, leaving just a fraction of an inch between their lips. He could feel Louis' hot breath ghosting over his skin. And then he closed the distance between them, kissing him gently. Louis brought a hand up and cupped Harry's cheek, and Harry grabbed two fistfuls worth of Louis' suit jacket as he pulled him a little closer. They moved their lips slowly against each other, and then the slow song stopped, and a fast song started up.

They pulled away from each other slowly, both grinning widely.

Louis took Harry's hands in his and spun him around. This was the last song of the night, and then it would be time to head home. So they made the most of it, dancing around the room like fools and occasionally leaning in to kiss each other on the cheek or give each other a peck on the lips, because they could do that now.

When the song ended, Louis took Harry's hand and laced their fingers together. They walked out to Louis' car, and Louis held the door for Harry. And this time, when Harry tried to hold back his blush (and failed miserably), it wasn't because he didn't want Louis to know how he felt, but because he was embarrassed to be blushing.

That all changed, however, when Louis climbed into his seat and then leaned over, giving Harry a quick kiss on the cheek and saying, "You're cute when you blush." And Harry decided that maybe blushing wasn't so embarrassing after all.

Louis held his hand for the entire drive back to his house, and when they arrived, he opened the car door for him. He took Harry's hand and helped him out of the car, and then linked arms with him as he walked him up to his front porch.

"That was a bit of extra chivalry, considering you got absolutely none at the beginning of the night, because you weren't my date yet. Don't expect me to be so nice every time we go out."

Harry agreed, but he knew that that was exactly what he should expect, because Louis was a gentleman at heart.

When they reached the doorstep, Louis grabbed Harry by the shoulders and turned him to face him. He got up on his tippy toes and leaned in, and Harry leaned down a bit, their lips meeting in the middle. It was a languid kiss, just their lips moving slowly against each other, and one or the other of them occasionally letting their tongue slip out and just trace the outline of the other's lips, but never trying to slip past them into each other's mouth. That could be explored another day.

When he pulled back, Harry was a bit lightheaded and dizzy with giddiness.

"Um, I'll call you tomorrow, then?" Louis asked.

"Yeah." Harry nodded. "Yeah. I'll talk to you soon, Lou."

"'Night, Haz." Louis said, giving him a quick peck on the lips.

"G'night." Harry smiled, opening the door, but watching as Louis got into the car.

The two waved at each other as Louis drove away, and then Harry went inside.

"That went well then." His mum said.

Harry jumped. He hadn't been expecting her to be standing right there.

"Jesus, woman. You scared me."

Anne laughed, and Harry smiled gently, his original jumpiness fading.

"A goodnight kiss between two friends?" Anne asked cheekily.

"Oh, shove off, mum." Harry said, smiling widely and running off to his room to escape what he knew would be relentless taunting.

"I'm glad things went well, love." She called after him.

"Thanks, mum. I love you."

"And I love you."

As Harry made his way into his room, he heard his mum muttering to herself about how she'd known this would happen.

He got to his room and stripped out of the suit he'd been wearing all night, feeling awfully hot.

He flopped down on the bed, a large grin spread across his face.

The night had been amazing, and now Louis was his, and he really couldn't ask for anything more.


End file.
